Chapter 1 The Call

The shout echoed into the forest, causing the leaves to rustle and the withered grass to sway, but after a long while, there was not the slightest response.

Hu Ma's brow furrowed instantly, and the others around him also felt a sinking feeling in their hearts. They looked at the forest ahead, and the sense of eerie unease only grew stronger.

They had only just entered the mountain, and hadn't even met anyone from the mine yet, let alone harbored any grudges. But they had already encountered the man-eating Gu dogs. This loud shout was intended to observe martial etiquette, assuming the other party was nearby and could hear them.

But now there was only silence. What did the other party intend? Were they unwilling to even talk?

Old Suanpan took out a map and said in a low voice, "According to this, we should have arrived long ago. I just used my small *kan yu* (geomancy) skills, and we haven't gone the wrong way, nor is this a ghost wall."

"But the problem is, there's nothing to see here..."

Following his gaze, everyone looked ahead. All they could see beyond the open space was a dense, deep forest, with no sign of the Blood Food Mine.

The surroundings were deserted, as if they had arrived in an uninhabited wilderness.

"Perhaps we really have arrived,"

Hu Ma observed the surroundings, took a deep breath, and said, "This open space doesn't look normal. It must be the remains of where the mine's people felled trees and built houses."

"Maybe we'll reach our destination after passing through that forest ahead."

Hearing him say this, they all observed the area and vaguely felt that he made sense. But looking ahead, that forest seemed no different from the ones they had passed along the way, with intertwined vines and towering trees. They couldn't see the slightest trace of a road!

Hu Ma wasn't in a hurry to speak. He turned to Old Suanpan and said, "Old brother, we haven't offended anyone, and we've followed martial etiquette by shouting. So, whatever we do next shouldn't be considered impolite, right?"

Old Suanpan nodded immediately and said, "That's right. Anywhere in the world, you have to be allowed to reason, right?"

"That's good."

Hu Ma took a deep breath and took down Zhou Datong's bizarre sawtooth blade from the donkey's back. He held it under his arm and slowly walked forward, quickly reaching the end of the open space and looking at the deep forest where strange plants grew, and the vines intertwined like tentacles.

Then, he suddenly took a deep breath, abruptly swung the blade, and erupted with *yang* energy and exorcising power. He hacked fiercely at the roots of a towering tree in the forest.

"Bang..."

As the blade fell, everyone heard a shrill wail that made their eardrums throb. In their blurred vision, the entire forest seemed to sway in panic, and strange shadows scurried in all directions.

When the commotion subsided, they stared blankly and saw that a path had appeared in the old forest where vines had been intertwined.

There were visible ruts on the road, clearly worn by frequent travel.

"The Blood Food Mine is indeed ahead..."

Old Suanpan couldn't help but jump off the donkey cart, take a look, and reveal a happy expression. "I said that I learned this small *kan yu* skill by spending two Blood Food Pills! It should be a real skill..."

"We really found the place?"

Zhou Datong and the others also hurried over, filled with joy. But Hu Ma quickly stopped them, picked up a small stone from the ground, and threw it forward.

A light mist permeated the trees inside, and the branches and leaves swayed. From the front, it looked wide, green, and normal, but when the stone hit it, the leaves flipped over, and they shockingly discovered that behind the leaves was a colorful poisonous insect that fell to the ground.

The excitement that everyone had just felt vanished instantly. They looked at each other, unable to imagine what would happen if they went inside.

"This forest is full of hidden things..."

Hu Ma took a deep breath and said to Old Suanpan, "It seems it's not some shaman blocking the way, but the people in this Blood Food Mine who don't welcome us..."

"First the Gu dogs, then this forest filled with Gu insects..."

Old Suanpan's face turned a little green as he looked at it and said in a low voice, "The people at this mine aren't very reasonable. Their attitude is extremely fierce..."

Hu Ma carefully examined the forest and said, "Old brother, do you know how to dispel Gu?"

Old Suanpan said with a headache, "Years ago, a shaman invited me to be his son-in-law. If I had become his son-in-law, he could have taught me, but I was too upright at the time and didn't agree to the marriage..."

"Not much skill, but a lot of talk."

Hu Ma secretly complained in his heart, but he also felt a headache. He didn't know what was in the forest, or even how many strange things were hidden. Even with his Keeper of the Year abilities, unafraid of ordinary poisonous insects, he wouldn't dare to charge in recklessly...

But he had excitedly come here to take over the Blood Food Mine. Was he supposed to give up halfway and turn back immediately?

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a snort. It was the horse that had been obediently following all the way, but now it raised its head with some excitement and looked at the deep forest.

Then, without a word, it suddenly lifted its hooves silently and slowly walked forward.

Zhou Datong and the others were shocked and hurriedly tried to pull it back, but Hu Ma's heart stirred, and he said, "Just follow it."

Old Suanpan and the others were full of confusion, but they saw that Hu Ma had already followed behind the horse. The others also hurriedly followed, and even the donkey, which had already become vigilant, tucked its tail tightly and quietly followed behind.

"Chī chī chī chī..."

Following behind the horse and entering the deep forest, everyone became more and more surprised. Just now, the appearance of this forest seemed no different from the outside, but now, as the horse walked in front, stepping over the grass and kicking away the vines, it seemed to have poked a hornet's nest.

Among the swaying branches and leaves on both sides, poisonous insects or strange powders flew out from time to time, attaching themselves to the horse's back, biting and stinging.

They used the faint light to see thumb-sized scorpions, coin-sized spiders, and slender strange snakes with black rings and white bottoms, and so on.

Suddenly looking, they couldn't see these things hiding on both sides at all, but now they all jumped out at once, like a startled hornet's nest, attacking the horse at the same time, making the scalps of those following behind tingle.

And the horse was obviously in pain, its body constantly shaking, but its steps became lighter and lighter, and even when it couldn't bear it, it let out two joyful neighs, as if celebrating something.

"This horse..."

The poisonous insects on both sides were frightening, but the horse's performance was even more frightening.

Whether it was Old Suanpan or Zhou Datong and the others, they already felt a little scalp tingling. This horse was a bit abnormally crazy.

"This old brother has finally made it through..."

Hu Ma followed behind, not without a sense of creepiness, but he just sighed softly in his heart, as if he had fulfilled some kind of entrustment.

Miss Red Wine had handed this horse over to him in order for it to die.

It was determined to die, but it was not good to kill it through someone else's hands, so it could only wait for the arrival of its death tribulation. Miss Red Wine asked him to bring it over because her estate really didn't have the danger that could satisfy it.

Now, it was paving the way through the Gu formation for him, dying from evil poison, which was equivalent to finally waiting for its own fulfillment.

Hu Ma would not kill it with his own hands, nor would he deliberately send it into a death trap, but now that it had found its own opportunity, of course, he would not stop it...

In this way, borrowing this horse to pave the way, everyone followed behind, and little by little, they passed through this forest and saw the lights ahead.

When they finally came through, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The poisonous insects on the horse's body suddenly stiffened and fell down with a rustling sound, and its body was already red, swollen, and cyanotic. Its hooves were weak, and it suddenly fell heavily.

"Be careful!"

Hu Ma stepped forward and used his hands to neutralize the poison, so as not to be contaminated by the poison. Then, he supported the horse's chest, allowing it to slowly kneel on the ground.

Looking into the horse's hollow eyes, he could see its relief. Hu Ma just nodded to it lightly, not intending to explain its background and the reason for doing so to others, but only knowing it himself was enough.

But watching the horse slowly kneel down and quietly lie in the grass waiting to die, Hu Ma turned his head coldly and glanced at the forest behind him. No matter who had set up this Gu formation just now, or what their intention was, he had recorded this matter.

Beside him was a simple wooden gate, with a tattered red lantern hanging on it. Now there was no fire inside, only swaying helplessly in the wind.

Hu Ma just glanced at it and understood the attitude of this Blood Food Mine towards the Red Lantern Society.

The red lantern was the symbol of the Red Lantern Goddess. Hanging up the red lantern meant that this place was the Red Lantern Goddess's territory. Although it was hung up here, it was not filled with oil, nor was it repaired, allowing the red lantern to be exposed to wind and sun, not like a symbol, but like a joke hanging here.

Further in, he saw a valley in front of him, with fire basins and torches lit everywhere, illuminating it brightly.

In the valley, he didn't know how many people with knives and guns in their hands, with fierce expressions, were sitting there setting up fires and roasting meat. Suddenly seeing Hu Ma and the others coming over, they were all startled and hurried over.

Each of them had unkind eyes and shouted, "Who are you? This is the Blood Food Mine. If you break in casually, do you not want to live?"

"Miners?"

Hu Ma glanced at this group of ragged people with unkind expressions, but did not take them seriously. Instead, his eyes skipped over them and looked into the depths of the valley. He suddenly took a deep breath and shouted sharply:

"Where is the person in charge here?"

"I am a Green Incense Disciple under the Red Lantern Goddess. I'm here to check the accounts. The mine chief, come to see me immediately!"

This shout shocked the group of miners in front of him, and they couldn't help but retreat, their weapons clanging as they fell to the ground.

The horse beside him, with countless strange poisons in its body, had slowly lowered its huge head, welcoming the arrival of death. Even its consciousness had become blurred, as if it was about to fall into endless darkness...

...Then it was suddenly awakened by a shock, and it looked at Hu Ma with resentful eyes: "The feeling I had just cultivated was suddenly disturbed by you..."

(End of Chapter)